• Franz Ferdinand  – Always Ascending

    February 9, 2018 - By 

    After the Glasgow School of Art was severely damaged by fire in 2014, it was argued that the extensive coverage afforded to this incident was greater than the actual public interest in the Mackintosh-designed institution itself. Some bands, burdened by instant debut success, similarly linger long in the memory of music critics long after the record-buying public has moved on. Enter one-time art school alumni Franz Ferdinand, who have managed to side-step the indie landfill of the mid-noughties by releasing five solid albums (six if we’re including the 2015 collaboration with Sparks) of arch art-pop. And still, they command considerable…

  • Efrim Menuck – Pissing Stars

    February 8, 2018 - By 

    Montreal’s Efrim Menuck casts a long, deep shadow over contemporary experimental rock music. If you need a demonstration of that fact, listen to the first three Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums and get good and lost in them for a while. Separate to this, his work with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra is a notable cut above many of his peers. Every album he’s touched is coated in his fingerprints. It’s surprising then, given his longevity and influence, that he has only two solo efforts. The second of which he has just released after a seven-year gap. Pissing Stars…

  • Watch: The Altered Hours – Over The Void

    February 8, 2018 - By 

    The second single taken from their forthcoming EP On My Tongue, ‘Over The Void’ by Cork five-piece The Altered Hours is a swirling blitz of gnarling haze from a band who continue to break brilliant new territory. Directed by Helio Leon, with cinematography from Izabela Szczutkowska & Leon, editing by Afghaniscan (Robert Watson) and creative input/style from Sarah Corcoran, the single’s video is a suitably abstracted, lysergic-laced accompaniment to a short song that really rewards the repeated listen. On My Tongue is released for Art For Blind/Penske on March 9. The Altered Hours will play the following dates over the next three…

  • Premiere: Tracy Bruen – Fall Away

    February 8, 2018 - By 

    The name Tracy Bruen will be a familiar one to many who have spent some time in the heart of Galway. A singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, theatre director and actor, her music blurs the lines between folk, pop, prog and classical, as well as theatrical influences. A keen eye will also know her as the woman behind the Galway’s legendary Roisin Dubh Open Mic night. Set to embark on a national and European tour from tomorrow, Bruen is back with the video for recent single ‘Fall Away’, a highlight from her ten-track debut album, Mirror. Confronting “a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and speaks against…

  • Watch: Stoat – Dog King

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    Heroes of the city’s underground music scene, Dublin three-piece Stoat are perfect testament to the power of playing the long-game. Having been making music together for the best part of 20 years, the threesome’s wonderfully wry, masterfully incisive brand of genre-warping indie-pop will come to the fore once more via their highly-anticipated second album, Try Not To Think About It. Ahead of the launch of the album at the Underground on Dame Street in Dublin on Saturday night (February 10), the band have unveiled the video for new single ‘Dog King’. A homespun visual accompaniment, it perfectly parallels the band’s increasingly singular brand of lo-fi…

  • The Breeders, Orbital, Ash and More Added to BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Belfast

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    The final acts to play at BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Belfast across May 25-26 has been announced, and it’s pretty special. Joining the likes of Beck, Courtney Barnett and Manic Street Preachers are The Breeders, First Aid Kit, Goldie, Orbital, Little Dragon, Franz Ferdinand, Young Fathers and Ash. We’re going out on a limb here: this is probably the strongest line-up for a festival in Northern Irish music history. Don’t pass up the chance to get tickets when they go on sale this Monday at 10am.

  • Katie Kim & Radie Peat set to collaborate for A Night of Musical Stories

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    In association with MusicTown, two of Ireland’s finest contemporary artistic voices bring a one-off, collaborative show at Dublin’s Pepper Canister Church on April 14. Amongst a handful of folk-rooted artists in recent years to demarcate themselves from the rest of the pack, drone-folk songwriter Katie Kim – listen to her fourth album Salt – and multi-instrumentalist vocalist Radie Peat – also known for her groundbreaking approach to folk with Lankum & Rue – are right at the top. This all-ages concert encompasses murder ballads, folklore, traditional and contemporary musical arrangements, performing music both self-penned, and from past traditions to bing together themes of the human condition. “Darkness through light, misadventure and…

  • Watch: Sandy Kim – Rabbit Hole

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    Young Dublin three-piece Sandy Kim have shared the video for their ew single ‘Rabbit Hole’. The indie rock/dream-pop trio formed in 2017 and recorded five tracks back in December. With plans to release a single a month, they’re off to a flying start with ‘Rabbit Hole’, a jangling guitar number reminiscent of DIIV, Sea Pinks and Ride with a bridge that comes from the side and brings a sort of galactic energy that God is an Astronaut would be proud of.  If this is the quality we’re to expect from this lot, then we have every reason to be quite excited we reckon.